PJ Raval
he/they
PJ Raval
Filipinx American
Queer
Affiliations
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, Producers Guild of America (PGA), Writers Guild of America West (WGAW), Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc), OUTsiderImpact Campaigns & Crowdfunding
Links to Work
CALL HER GANDA (POV)
WHO WE BECOME (Netflix)
BEFORE YOU KNOW IT (America ReFramed)
COME & TAKE IT (Grasshopper Film)
Bio
PJ Raval is a queer, first generation Filipinx American filmmaker whose work examines social justice issues through the voices of queer and marginalized subjects. Named one of Out Magazine's 'OUT 100′, PJ's body of film work has appeared on platforms including Netflix, PBS, Discovery, and Showtime. Following three gay seniors in their golden years, PJ’s documentary, BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, was hailed by indieWIRE as “a crucial new addition to the LGBT doc canon” and won the 2016 NLGJA Association of LGBTQ Journalists Excellence in Documentary Award. His film, CALL HER GANDA, chronicles the events surrounding the murder of trans woman Jennifer Laude by a US marine in the Philippines. GANDA broadcast on POV (PBS) in 2019 and was nominated for a Philippines Academy Award for Best Documentary and anchored an impact campaign with over 150+ community screenings including a closed door meeting with the US State Department. PJ’s recent film, WHO WE BECOME, is a coming of age documentary following the lives of three young Filipino American women in Texas during the COVID pandemic. The film is distributed by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing and is currently streaming on Netflix.
An accomplished cinematographer, Raval shot the Academy Award-nominated documentary TROUBLE THE WATER and is a co-founder of the NEA supported queer transmedia arts organization OUTsider. He serves on the steering committee of the Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc) and is a Soros Justice Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, a member of both the Producers Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences where he serves as the Asian Affinity Group Chair.
Projects
CALL HER GANDA
When Jennifer Laude, a Filipina trans woman, is brutally murdered by a U.S. Marine, three women intimately invested in the case–an activist attorney (Virgie Suarez), a transgender journalist (Meredith Talusan) and Jennifer’s mother (Julita “Nanay” Laude)–galvanize a political uprising, pursuing justice and taking on hardened histories of US imperialism.
WHO WE BECOME
WHO WE BECOME follows three Filipino women grappling with an emerging global pandemic while forging unexpected connections with their families. Discovering themselves in the process. A self-documented time capsule for turbulent times, capturing the unbreakable bond between Filipino family and community.
BEFORE YOU KNOW IT
From Stonewall to #LoveWins, three gay seniors experience life and love in their golden years.
COME & TAKE IT
Come & Take It captures Jessica Jin‘s transformation into one of America’s most irreverent anti-gun violence leaders, creating what some people are calling The Great Texas Dildo Revolt.